Thursday, October 16, 2014

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) --
Israeli naval forces on Thursday evening opened fire at a Palestinian
fishing boat off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

Head of the
fishermen's union in Gaza Nizar Ayyash told Ma'an that Israeli boats
opened fire at boats belonging to local fisherman off the coast of Deir
al-Balah.

A boat belonging to Jamal Abu Watfa was sunk in the attack.

Ayyash said the fisherman lost consciousness after the incident, but was reportedly saved from the water.

He added that the financial losses to the fisherman could reach more than JOD 100,000 ($140,000).

Since
the signing of a ceasefire agreement that ended 50 days of fighting
between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza on Aug. 26, the
Israeli navy has fired at Gaza fishermen in multiple instances under
the pretext that they had surpassed fishing zone limits.

The Aug.
26 agreement stipulated that Israel would immediately expand the
fishing zone off Gaza's coast, allowing fishermen to sail as far as six
nautical miles from shore, and would continue to expand the area
gradually.

The fisherman who have been shot at, and even at times
detained by Israeli forces, have insisted that they were well within
the six-mile limit.

Prior to the recent agreement, Israeli forces
maintained a limit of three nautical miles on all Gaza fishermen,
opening fire at fishermen who strayed further, despite earlier
agreements which had settled on a 20-mile limit.

There are 4,000
fishermen in Gaza. According to a 2011 report by the International
Committee of the Red Cross, 90 percent are poor, an increase of 40
percent from 2008 and a direct result of Israeli limits on the fishing
industry.

The Israeli blockade in place since 2006 has severely
limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip -- include materials
necessary for building fishing boats -- and has led to frequent
humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans.

Israeli Gunboats Open Fire at a Fishing Boat; Five Fishermen were Injured

At approximately 3:30 pm on
Thursday 16 October 2014, Israeli gunboats opened fire at a fishing boat
in which five fishermen were on board. The boat was in the sea, about
five nautical miles away from the coast of Deir Al Balah city in the
Middle of Gaza Strip. According to Al Mezan’s field investigations,
Israeli gunboats attacked the boat and opened fire heavily toward it. As
a result, fishermen drove the boat away to the east, but the two
Israeli gunboats followed it for one and a half nautical mile under
heavy fire. The boat was hit by some bullets and it drowned and five
fishermen were injured due to falling some equipment on them: Mohammed
Jamal Abu Watfa, 24, Ameer Saleem Abu As-Sadeq, 26, Raed Saed Al Habeel,
43, Sa’di Mohammed Al Adgham, 40, Ismail Ameen Abu As-Sadeq, 41, all of
whom residents of As-Shate’ refugee camp west of Gaza. The boat is
still sinking in the sea until publishing this piece of news on Sunday
19 October 2014, and the marine police is trying to get it out.